The Gay 300s?

There is a very interesting debate going on at the Turkish Daily News about the Hollywood film “300.” The debate revolves around the film’s core issues, namely atheistic vs. theistic beliefs, Spartan homosexuality, and the good ole’ east vs. west “clash of civilizations” theory.

A friend tells me that Iranians are also having a field day debating “300.” I don’t get it, are the only people that don’t take Hollywood films seriously Westerners? Sounds like a case of Occidentalism to be honest, which is funny considering how some are arguing “300” is Orientalist….TOmato, toMATo, I guess…

The makers of “300” give you no hint, but actually the gallant soldiers of the Spartan army were mostly gays who were trying to show off to each other with their military skills. And it was not just among mature men: Sparta was a land of homosexual pedophilia.

The response here by Wes Wright and his money quote on the same subject:

Spartan men were commanded to marry and have children. And so, I think it is a straw man argument to simply name them a bunch of homosexual warriors. They were Spartans (mostly heterosexual, stripped of every thought of ego by means of homosexual rape) and soldiers (fighting as units, not warriors fighting as individuals). For all of their faults as a society, let us not impose modern judgments on an ancient culture.